Dive Brief:
- Lenovo has released the Phab 2 Pro "phablet" device, the first smartphone to market that supports Google’s augmented reality system Tango, according to reporting by VentureBeat.
- Mattel has already created a Tango app around its Hot Wheels line of toy cars, though the product is designed for fun rather than monetization through in-app purchases.
- Wayfair, an online home furnishings and décor retailer, is also launching a shopping app for Tango, according to a company press release.
Dive Insight:
Tango could be a useful tool for marketers looking to experiment in the AR space, utilizing the AR infrastructure Google provides to create campaigns that might be too costly or resource-intensive to develop independently.
While apps like Mattel's Hot Wheels track demonstrate AR can create fun and accessible branded content, its real value might lie in retail, with the ability to demo or sample large products that would otherwise be too unwieldy to handle. Furniture retailers like Wayfair seem like the perfect fit to try their hand with Tango on Phab 2.
“[T]he Lenovo Tango-enabled Phab 2 Pro smartphone adds an enhanced level of sophistication that’s essential to creating realistic 3-D visualizations of Wayfair’s products," said Steve Conine, the co-chairmain and co-founder of Wayfair. "We are thrilled to leverage this innovative technology to introduce a convenient way for our customers to shop for furniture and décor."
However, the Phab 2 is more tech-intensive — and far larger in size — than standard smartphones like the iPhone, so while bigger AR marketing technology and applications are starting to edge into the mainstream (especially after this summer's smash hit game Pokemon Go), they have yet to fully hit their stride.